With the debt ceiling fight in the rear-view mirror, the 2024 presidential race is beginning to heat up. Former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are both probably jumping in the race this week.
Meanwhile, in Iowa, former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov Ron DeSantis are taking shots at one another, while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), and others try to make their cases.
Where does this leave us? We'll also talk about events in Israel, where a rogue Egyptian policeman appears killed three Israeli soldiers, and the Netanyahu government faces the task of judicial reform. Author Abigail Shrier was also confronted by left-wing radicals as she tried to present her book, "Irreversible Damage," in Tel Aviv. The world lost pro-Israel journalist Claudia Rossett. And President Biden rolled out an antisemitism "strategy" -- will it work?
There's also a new organization, founded by Jewish conservatives, to confront both George Soros -- and the idea that criticizing Soros is antisemitic. So, in a week that marks the anniversary of D-Day and the Six-day War... join us!
Special guests:
Emma-Jo Morris - Breitbart News political editor, on the 2024 race
Amanda House - retiring Breitbart News video editor, on motherhood
Josh Hammer and Will Scharf -- founders of JewsAgainstSoros.com
Caroline Glick - columnist and Middle East expert, CarolineGlick.com
Anne Bayefsky - human rights activist and international law expert
Tune in: SiriusXM Patriot 125, 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call in: 866-957-2874
This week'd portion begins the book of Numbers. Interestingly, the Hebrew name for the book is "In the Desert," not "Numbers." The portion, which happens to be my bar mitzvah portion, focuses almost as much on the names of the princes of each tribe as the number of soldiers it fielded. It also focuses on the configuration of the tribal camps around the central Tabernacle and the Levites.
So why "Numbers" instead of "Names" or "Places"? The numbers are, to be sure, a unique feature of the opening of this Biblical book -- but they are not the focus of the rest of the narrative. The Hebrew focuses on the place where the events in the book take place, because essentially this is the narrative of the Israelites' wanderings from Egypt to Israel, across 40 years. We move from the giving of the Torah and the construction of the Tabernacle in Exodus and Leviticus, to the final valediction of Moses in Deuteronomy -- Bamidbar is the story of wandering that happened in between.
The question of ...
This week's portion begins with the laws of the Sabbath and the Sabbatical year, and the Jubilee year that restores all land to its original (tribal) owners. It also explores laws of property and labor that will apply in the Land of Israel, and the laws of vows and inheritance.
The Israelites are presented -- not for the last time -- with the essential moral choice that they must face, and the rewards for choosing well, along with the consequences for choosing poorly.
We learn that doing good things will earn God's protection from enemies. That does not mean that victims of terror, God forbid, were sinful. But it does mean that we can respond to evil by committing ourselves to a higher path.
This week's portion describes the major sacrifices that are to be offered by the Jewish people, including those that are offered only by the priestly Kohen class, and physical requirements of the people (men) who serve in that role.
Inter alia, there are interesting commandments -- such as an injection to treat animals with respect and care, first, by letting a mother animal nurse her offspring for a week before being offered in any sacrifice; and second, by refraining from slaughtering an animal and its offspring on the same day.
The commandments regarding animals remind us of the purpose of those regarding human beings: to uphold a divine connection, through ritual.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111878/jewish/Rabbi-Isaac-Luria-The-Ari-Hakodosh.htm
